I just got a pedometer and put it through its paces today. The step count seems accurate -- just over 9,000 for a 3.3 mile walk -- but its mile count is way off the one Google Maps gave me when I plotted the route. Since I got a nice basic model that has no Bluetooth bullshit or web connectivity of any kind, I'm wondering if it calculates miles based solely on the length of stride it asks you to input. But that's a rough number, not a reliable way to measure distance. I saw the step count move with each step I took, so I'm comfortable that's correct. I think I'll stick to the Googz for the miles, though.

At my most bortly size, I was at least 280. Likely, even closer to 300. A few months after I started the punishing laborious jerb I have, bad eating habits and all, I think I leveled off at around 245. After being attacked by mine own skin - or whatever - and changing my dietary habits, I dropped even more weight.

All I did was watch the carbs and sugars. First to go, obviously, was the fast food runs and p much anything deep fried. Then regular potatoes of all stripes. No more crackers or chips, tortilla or otherwise. (I STILL LOVE YOU SALSA. PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME. ) That helped me get down to between 210 and 220.

My most recent concession to the diet overlord was beans. I think even that little bit of carb leftover has given me reason to crow about further weight loss. Yesterday I checked and the number was as low as I've seen in a long time - not just years but decades. 203.

As good as monitoring that one number is, it's just one number and it only tells one little bit of a larger tale. I've been waiting until all itchy spots have been gone for a while before getting the better picture of what's going on inside. Tangential health update, I've had a wandering rash - very small spots - of one type or other since the whole thing started. Just a spot that simply would not go away until I wasted some prescription cream on it for a few days to a week. Last Saturday, I think, was the last time I opened that jar. I don't think that is completely over but hopefully it's over enough.

Other than eating right and working myself to death, I'm not doing anything especial for my health.

I don't know that I miss any one food in particular. Sometimes the meal of chips and salsa is lamented. Most, though, I'd say it's the convenience of eating whatever whenever and as much of it as I want - or could shove down the gullet.

Wow, what an achievement, Bort, not just the weight loss but the total change in your attitude and approach towards food. Bears be sleeping like Rip Van Winkle up in this bitch.

Protip for the beanage. Eden Foods has canned black soybeans that are entirely reasonable facsimiles of actual black beans. They are bland as hell, but work great in soups, chili, hummus, anything you can cram full of herbs and spices. Just a single gram net carbs per half cup.

I've become inordinately fond of LaCroix flavored sparkling waters, beverage-wise. No sweeteners, no sugar. Just fruit flavors injected into soda water. Some of them are freaking eerily real tasting. I like to mix the coconut and pineapple together for a festive pina colada feel. Also I like getting caught in the rain.

Hey, what's up. I'm coming up on 6 years of maintaining about 60 pounds of weight loss. Pretty happy about that! I still use Weight Watchers for maintenance, and I attend meetings weekly when I can, but monthly at a minimum to keep my membership current. I found a meeting that I LOVE but it's obscenely early on Saturday mornings, so I don't make it as often as I'd like.

I'm not as muscular-buff as I have been, which is a bummer. bey is mostly healed from his accident, and we have been bouncing back and forth between Crossfit and Bootcamp, but we lack the consistency necessary to get any real results.

I had signed up for a couple half-marathons in the early part of this year, so I went ahead and made an unofficial goal of 12 halfs in 2017, one per month. January, February, and March races are done, and I'll be running with my mom and others in Zion in April. I haven't registered for anything else, so I better get on that if I want to make this official.

If we're talking biometrics, I got an Apple Watch for Christmas. It has the movement metrics, and damn am I sedentary. I knew that already, it didn't come as a surprise, but it's still eye-opening to see the actual numbers. I'm trying to meet the arbitrary goals the watch app has set for me, and it gives me nice little reminders when I'm getting too far behind, which is a mixed bag depending on my mood. Last night I had to march in place and do jumping jacks for about 4 minutes before bed to get there.

So I've been getting more and more into long walks and was up to 20,000 steps a day. Last week it all came to a screeching halt when my left big toenail turned purple. I had no accident that I am aware of, didn't stub it, drop anything on it or kick Robocop in the crotch. It just turned purple and hurts like hell.

You runners and long-distance types, any idea what might cause something like that? Could it be something as simple as the fact that my second toe leans slightly to the right and that pressure built up over time causing a contusion? The bruise epicenter is definitely the bottom left corner of the toenail.

It's getting better -- the area of dark purple is smaller now -- but I'm concerned if I just go back to doing what I was doing without pinpointing the cause, it'll happen all over again.

I have a family history of diabetes so I'm relatively well-informed on the symptoms. This doesn't fit with the kind of lesions and ulcers seen in diabetics with peripheral neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease. It's not infected and is healing at a regular pace. Also my HbA1C is normal, and on the low side at that, because I limit my carbohydrate intake quite strictly.

It's your basic subungual hematoma. If my Google University degree is worth the pixels it's written in, I think it's runner's toe, or brisk walking toe, in my case. I did loosen my laces over the last week. The tubes say that could be a factor. And I got a new pair of shoes that are like 1/4 size too big for me. I couldn't help it! They were on sale for 60 bucks!

Random related: I'm big into walking my Pokemon around for fitness these months, getting some 15K steps some days. I've some new (expensive! O.O) shoes from Joya, will report back after a few solid long walks.

I've been thinking about fitness lately. I bought a weight bench and some weights (barbell and dumbell) as well as a treadmill. Funny story though, I threw out my back trying to lift the treadmill box when it arrived and spent 2-3 weeks in bed as a result. I've been doing some light core-strengthening exercises for the past week (recommended by the chiropractor who made my pain go away) and hopefully will start using the treadmill to walk pretty soon. The chiro thinks running is probably not a great idea given the high probability that I have a herniated disk.

Last time I let myself really go, to ease back into some core strength I found sitting on one of those inflatable yoga balls at the computer useful. Mind you I use an electric drafting table so it can get pretty low to the floor at the touch of a button.

Still, even with one of those ball chair things makes your body have to do little micro adjustments all the time.

I got engaged on May 20th - and my wedding is in March. I decided I didn't want to be a chubby bride so I am being active and eating better.

Fruit instead of desserts, more veggies and less carbs - I don't have a scale so I'm not sure of the exact poundage but a couple of my skirts feel looser and I personally feel better. I think maybe 4 pounds - but no one has noticed anything. The Mor-man says I'm perfect and not to change a thing.

I started walking to work on June 9th - 1 hour and 7000 steps on my fitbit one way. I am over 10,000 steps on average a day. Sometimes I walk home too for an almost 20,000 step day. Weekdays are fine but weekends it tougher to get out and walk.

Congratulations, Limoncello! Sounds like your fiance is a do-right, all-night man, and good for you for focusing on your fitness rather than doing some wacky crash diet to fit into an abstract notion of a "perfect" wedding dress. That always seems like such a miserable way to start off a marriage. Weddings are stressful enough without adding physical torture to the mix.

You've gotten your steps up damn quickly too. That's awesome. I've found walking to be unexpectedly fulfilling. You actually get more energized the more you do instead of crashing, and you get so much thinking done. I invented several recipes on walks that are now staples.

My doctor said I'm in the pre-contemplation stage of change - I know I want to make some changes in my life so I can lose the weight I gained over the past two years. My motivation just isn't happening.

Random related: I'm big into walking my Pokemon around for fitness these months, getting some 15K steps some days. I've some new (expensive! O.O) shoes from Joya, will report back after a few solid long walks.

Solid walks not possible yet as the new shoes have taken much of the skin off the back of my right heel. This is not unusual for a new pair of shoes and always the right side, I land hard on that heel.

But about the shoes, they're shock absorbing shoes that feel a bit like walking on soft peaty earth while walking. They lack a sense of certainty with each step and when stopping my big toes have been getting a bit more work out than to which they are accustomed from the additional rocking back and forth.

My spouse also got a pair, and she's famously clumsy on her feet and has the sense of balance of a drunk toddler on roller skates, but even she's been fine with the weirdness.

Nutshell:
Great shock absorbers.
Takes a bit of anticipation when on uneven terrain as they'll rock side to side or forward and back.
If you have great ankles, these will protect your knees.

I would like to get a pedometer. I don't want to spend a bunch of money, and I don't want something that's going to monitor my sleep and remind me to get up and move every hour. I just want to count my steps. Any suggestions?

This is the one I went with in the end. It was easy to program once I realized that I had to stab the unfolded paperclip into the little reset hole really, really hard to get things started. It has no bells and whistles to speak of and it's small enough that you can clip it to your bra without looking like you have third boob.

Like I said upthread, I'm pretty sure it doesn't calculate milage correctly because there is no GPS or web connection so it relies on your average step length, but all I wanted it for was to count my steps without reporting my heart rate, REM cycles and poop transit times to Apple/Google and it does that like a charm.